detritus
noun
Michael Tomasky
Did you know?
If you use detritus in speech, remember to stress the second syllable, as you do in the words arthritis and bronchitis. Once you've mastered its meaning and pronunciation, you’ll find that detritus is a term—originally a geology term referring to loose material, such as broken rock fragments, resulting from disintegration—that can be applied in many situations. After the first hard freeze of fall, gardens are littered with the detritus of summer’s plants and produce: stalks, leaves, vines, and maybe even an abandoned hand trowel. As a flood-swollen river retreats to its banks, it leaves detritus—debris gathered by the raging waters—in its wake. The detritus of civilization may include junkyards and abandoned buildings, while mental detritus may include all kinds of useless trivia. (We’re not saying it qualifies as such, but detritus comes from the Latin root deterere, meaning “to wear away, impair.”)
Did you know?
How Do You Pronounce detritus?
After the first hard freeze of fall, gardens are sadly littered with the detritus of the summer's plants and produce: stalks, leaves, vines, rotted vegetables, and maybe even a hand trowel left behind. As the flooding Mississippi River retreats back to its ordinary course, it leaves detritus behind in its wake, debris gathered from everywhere by the raging waters. The detritus of civilization may include junkyards and abandoned buildings; mental detritus may include all kinds of useless trivia. Notice how this word is pronounced; for some reason, people often try to accent the first syllable rather than the second.
Examples of detritus in a Sentence
Michael Waters, The Atlantic, 4 June 2025
But wise, connected AI development and use can serve as a vein of gold through the detritus of disruption and destruction of coming years, manifesting the priceless role of humanity in the evolution of consciousness.
—Ginny Whitelaw, Forbes.com, 1 June 2025
Belonging to no one exactly, of debatable worth, and kept company by a neighborhood lifer and his detritus: perhaps a fitting end for the bust that ignited a fight over the soul of downtown.
—Hannah Jocelyn, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2025
Hundreds of workers from the Indian city of Cooch Behar lug steel girders into the concrete shells of what will be dormitories, as a leaf blower removes detritus from an artificial-turf soccer pitch.
—By Charlie Campbell/gelephu, Bhutan, TIME, 16 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for detritus
Cite this Entry
“Detritus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detritus. Accessed 12 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
detritus
noun
Medical Definition
detritus
noun
-ˈtrī-ˌtüs
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